Zodiac
The zodiac animals are as follows, in the correct order. The bolded animal is the current year. # Phoenix # Twin Koi # Badgermole # Flying Lemur # Polarbear Dog # Platypus Bear # Otter Penguin # Dragon # Pheasant Monkey # Unagi # Flying Bison # Komodo Rhino Tea of the New Year Long ago, before the time of men, the four great lion turtles would host a yearly competition of wit. Debate or strategy, each time the lion turtles would find themselves at a draw with one and other, none seemingly able to best the other in a challenge of the mind. As millennia past, the lion turtles grew tired and knew that soon their time of peaceful competition would come to an end as they were to be drawn away from one and other to cultivate the embers of four nations that we know today. There would only be time for one final challenge, one challenge for the lion turtles to enjoy, but to have a winner after thousands of years of stalemates would be impossible. Instead, each lion turtle chose three champions from the animals that made their homes on its back. When all twelve animals were gathered together, they were informed of their challenge; the animal that could make the most delightful cup of tea for the lion turtles would be crowned the winner. It was not long before each of the animals set themselves to work, doing their best to provide the most delicious drink possible. And once they returned, the lion turtles convened to decide on how well each of their champions performed and where their teas ranked in relation to one and other. In last place came the Komodo Rhino. Once the Komodo Rhino had finished making its cup of tea for the lion turtles, it hurtled back to meet them. Unfortunately, disaster struck and the Komodo Rhino tripped on a lone tree root. Its horn and the delicate teacup shot forwards and smashed upon contact with one and other. The Komodo Rhino had no tea to present to the lion turtles, it didn’t even have a cup. Next came the Flying Bison who had initially made a scolding hot brew, in an effort to cool the tea down, the Flying Bison wafted its ginormous tail towards the teacup. Unfortunately, the power of its air bending knocked the tea over and spilt it all over the ground. The Flying Bison too had no tea to present to the lion turtles. Then the Unagi was to be given its position. When the Unagi had made its cup of tea it used its own water jets to fill up the cup. It prepared all the tealeaves and shot its water-jet into the cup and filled it right to the top, unfortunately the Unagi didn’t stop there. The cup soon overflowed to the point that there were no tealeaves left in the teacup. The Unagi had no tea to present the lion turtles, just a cup of water. The Pheasant Monkey was swift to search for the best ingredients within the richest fruit trees. Such ingredients were delicious, and the Pheasant Monkey knew it well. It collected the best ingredients it could find and began making them into a nice fruit-tea. Soon the Pheasant Monkey was done and in front of it sat a delicious looking cup of tea. As it brought the tea to the lion turtles, it took a sip just to test. The taste was amazing, so it took another, and another, and another! When the Pheasant Monkey had reached the lion turtles there was only a quarter of the tea left in the cup. Its greed had cost the Pheasant Monkey the competition. The Dragon searched far and wide for a variety of ingredients and combined them all together in its teacup, but the tea was still cold. The Dragon drew in a deep breath before exhaling a torrent of fire to heat up the tea. The lion turtles found that the tea from the dragon was very tasty, however it was much too hot to drink! The Otter Penguin was in such a rush, it had made its tea but it still needed to travel far to reach the loin turtles. It skimmed across the ground on its stomach, through its home in ice and snow to bring the tea. However, in its rush the tea grew cold and when the lion turtles came to drink it, it was almost frozen! They could drink it, but the temperature was too low to enjoy. Next came the Platypus Bear who used its tail to swim up and down the rivers of what we now know as the Earth Kingdom. It sought to share its most beloved food with the lion turtles, the Se tu fish. Soon it had gathered the fish and used its oil in the tea recipe, which it then presented to the lion turtles. It was the first reasonable cup of tea, but the fish oil did make it taste rather odd. The Polarbear Dog too had a long distance to travel, much like the Otter Penguin. However, it had watched and learnt from the mistake of its fellow competitor. Instead of rushing, the Polarbear Dog took its time to deliver the tea and kept it warm within its thick fur. When the Polarbear Dog arrived and presented the tea, the lion turtles were thankful for a pleasant drink. However it was not a particularly special tasting tea. The Flying Lemur was soon to follow, it had watched the Pheasant Monkey collect all the most delicious ingredients and too flew up to the richest fruit trees. It gathered the ingredients, much like the Pheasant Monkey and made a very similar tea. However, the Flying Lemur did not drink the tea itself. Instead it presented the fruit-tea to the lion turtles who enjoyed every sip. With its unrivalled senses, the Badgermole burrowed into the ground searching for the best ingredients it could find. Thanks to this it found the rarest roots, herbs and fungus out of all the animals and combined them into a delicious tea. The tea itself is said to have been great and the lino turtles approved of the time that the Badgermole took to search for such precious ingredients. In second place came the Twin Koi. Their tea did not compromise of the rarest or strongest ingredients, however the Twin Koi had teamwork on their side. In unison, they stirred the tea as they both swam within it. Their graceful dance mixed together the ingredients better than any of the other animals and produced an astoundingly well-balanced tea. The lion turtles congratulated the Twin Koi on their excellent teamwork and fantastic tea. However, the lion turtles did not award the Twin Koi with first place, that was to be given to the Phoenix. The old Phoenix worked tirelessly for days and days to gather and produce the most delicious tea it could. It worked itself to exhaustion and when it moved to present its tea to the lion turtles, it died. However, all the lion turtles and the animals waited for the Phoenix was soon to be reborn. In a short burst of flame the Phoenix rose anew from its ashes, warming up the tea to the perfect temperature as an unintended result. The lion turtles congratulated the Phoenix and praised its self-sacrifice for others. The Phoenix, thanks to all its hard work and determination, had made the most delightful cup of tea.